‘Heirloom’ hippo tusk stolen from Goan lady’s home
3 nabbed trying to sell it; officials surmise it was brought by her father from Tanzania 50 years ago
SHIVAMOGGA:
In a whodunnit worthy of Sherlock Holmes, forest officials of Karnataka and Goa, assisted by the police, unearthed the origin of a huge hippopotamus tusk that was seized here last week. As it transpires, the 12-kg ivory tusk was stolen from the home of an elderly Goan lady. The 80-year-old lady had inherited the tusk from her father who had brought it with him from Tanzania over half a century ago.
“Last Monday, we arrested three men who were trying to sell hippopotamus ivory. On interrogating them, we traced its source to Goa,” Ravi Shankar, forest conservator of the Shivamogga division, said.
The accused have been identified as Mohammed Danish, Muzaffar Hasan and Zakir Khan. They were nabbed with the tusk at Chandragutti.
The unusual nature of the case stems from the fact that hippos are not native to India and can be seen only in zoos.
The investigating team that went to Goa found that the main suspect, Vishal, used to help the elderly lady who was staying alone. Recently, she had asked Vishal to clean out her storeroom, which is where he found the tusk and stole it. He then asked the trio, who are now in police custody, to sell the tusk for a commission of 15 per cent. Apparently, the trio thought it was an elephant’s tusk.
Forest conservator Ravi Shankar’s guess is that the old lady’s father brought the hippo tusk with him when he returned from Tanzania 50 years ago. For many years, the tusk was lying in the family home.
Further investigation is underway, and the tusk has been sent to a laboratory to determine its age and other details.
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